Monday, March 26, 2018

How to Start Using VR and AR in Your Classroom

"What is it like to walk in someone else's shoes?
Books allow us to imagine it, and movies allow us to see it,
but VR is the first medium that actually allows us to experience it."

-- Nick Mokey

So many great ideas and resources for using Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality were discussed during Sunday’s #ELLEdTech Twitter chat that I decided to collate them into this blog post. I’ve divided them into the following categories: Articles about Using Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality, Teaching Ideas, and Tools that were mentioned in the chat. I hope this helps you get started with using this amazing technology!

TEACHING IDEASLaurah (The ESOL Odyssey) has used Augmented Reality “to create self-checking task cards, book reviews (Ss scan the book cover and get another student's video review), to add images or video clips to words/definitions, to create interactive word walls.....so many uses!”

Shelly Sanchez uses Gabsee to have students “create their own 3D avatar then create AR videos of them exploring places.”

Michelle Makus Shory says, “I love to take a ‘trip’ to the setting of the novel/article we are reading. Instant relevance!”

Cheri Mann does something similar: “With VR stations students also took us to visit their homes in their native countries.”

Ms. Lacure said, “I’ve used Tellegami to get kids speaking. They can choose their own Avatar and background and it’s like an animated speaker. I haven’t used it in a few years, but my kids loved it last time we did.”

To read about the benefits of using Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality with ELLs as well as chat participants’ advice about getting started with using it, click HERE to read the complete #ELLEdTech discussion.